"We have been nice girls long enough. We’ve made our cholent…we should take to the streets." - Blu Greenberg

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Musings on the NOW Conference: Political Roundtable

This post is part of a series
discussing the 2012 National Organization for Women (NOW) Conference: Energize!
Organize! Stop the War on Women. You can read my notes on this session here.

Within the third plenary session
at the NOW conference was the Political Roundtable, moderated by Bonnie
Grabenhofer, NOW Executive Vice President. She briefly discussed the context of
today’s American politics and how the War on Women is in full swing. The first
speaker was Sarah Reece, director of the Academy for Leadership and Action at
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She discussed the Task Force’s efforts
to lobby for pro-LGBT legislation and to change people’s minds in favor of LGBT
issues. Afterwards came Linda Hallman, CEO of the American Association of University
Women (AAUW). She discussed the NOW-AAUW campaign It’s My Vote, I Will Be Heard
to encourage young women to vote. Eleanor Smeal, a former NOW President and
Advisor to the NOW National Board, spoke next. She listed the Republicans’ sins
and underscored the importance of making sure the GOP does not succeed. Representative
Carolyn Maloney was the final speaker. She too mourned the current anti-woman
political climate, celebrated feminist victories, discussed her work in
Congress to lobby for pro-woman measures, and urged the public to “go out and
demand” equal rights.

I was afraid that this session
was going to be irritating, since I figured it would solely consist of
Republican-bashing and Obama-worship. While a lot of that did go on, I was happy
that it was kept to a relative minimum, and speakers spent more time focusing
on pertinent issues and how to fix them rather than whining about what’s
happening and pointing fingers. My whole philosophy towards life is if you don’t
like something, change it; shut up, stop complaining, and get to getting
yourself out of situation you’re stuck in. When fellow progressives start blaming
Republicans for all the world’s evils, it really gets on my nerves, since it
doesn’t accomplish anything. Yes, it’s important to understand who is
threatening our rights and why they are doing it, but it’s much more worthwhile
to spend our precious time actively working against these people and trying to
thwart their goals. As a result, I was glad that this session mostly focused on
current efforts to stop the rollback of women’s rights and how people can get
involved.

One particular campaign that I
found absolutely fascinating is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s
attempt to have real, sit-down conversations with people who aren’t on board
with the LGBT+ advocacy cause yet. It’s such a good idea, and I can’t believe
it’s not used more often as an advocacy tool. Conversation and connection is an
integral part of any viable relationship, and if we want people to think the
way that we do on the issues, we need to establish a relationship based off of
mutual respect. Going back to what I said before, if we constantly bash
Republicans, we’ll never get into a conversation with one, and never be able to
learn from each other and broaden each others' horizons. (Yes, believe it or
not, there’s something to be learned even from - gasp - Republicans.) So in
summation, I think this idea is brilliant and should be used more often as part
of advocacy.

I also really appreciated the
emphasis of how much one person can have an impact. Hallman’s entire address
was about the magnitude of voting - the campaign is called It’s My Vote, I Will
Be Heard, after all - and the extreme importance of getting women to the polls
in November. Smeal also discussed how we have to show our feelings at the
ballot box. Throughout her speech, Maloney urged every individual to call his
or her representatives and let them know how he or she feels on the issues. I’m
a big fan of the concept that one person can leave a mark on the world, by
doing simple actions or going for the big time, so I was happy to hear that
these awesomely amazing women agree with me. Over the summer, I was discussing
my feminist activities with someone I met, and mentioned how important it is to
vote. The person I was speaking with was dismissive of the idea. One vote seems
very insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but if everyone says, “Oh, my
ballot doesn’t count for much,” nobody would go to the voting booth. Seriously,
every vote counts. All of our voices are equally important.

About Me

Prayer for Agunot

Creator of heaven and earth, may it be Your will to free the captive wives of Israel when love and sanctity have fled the home, but their husbands bind them in the tatters of their ketubot. Remove the bitter burden from these agunot and soften the hearts of their misguided captors. Liberate Your faithful daughters from their anguish. Enable them to establish new homes and raise up children in peace.

Grant wisdom to the judges of Israel; teach them to recognize oppression and rule against it. Infuse our rabbis with the courage to use their power for good alone.